“When I was at Yosemite’s spectacular Tunnel View a few years ago, I watched in disbelief as visitors poured out of vehicles and rushed to snap photos, bringing cameras or smartphones to their eyes before they’d even looked at the scene…

And those were the visitors who had time to stop. Many others simply rolled by slowly in their cars, taking photos out of the windows. “Been there, shot that,” one visitor wore on his t-shirt...

“People aren’t stopping to look anymore,” Yosemite Communications Director Scott Gediman told me then. “They’re rush, rush, rush and I see that every day.”

A generation ago, the average Yosemite visitor spent 48 hours at the park, Gediman pointed out. Now the average visit lasts a mere 4.8 hours. “People aren’t taking long backpacking trips like they did before,” Gediman says. “Backcountry use is actually declining even though more people come here.”

Over at the Grand Canyon National Park, the average visit is even shorter. Most visitors spend just 17 minutes looking at the magical abyss. A friend described witnessing a family whose car pulled into one canyon view parking lot. “Stay in the car, I’ll get the shot,” the father hollered to mom and the kids.

Shelton Johnson, the veteran African American ranger and novelist, had the same observation about park visitors. “They’re harried, they’re rushed, they’re looking at their watches,” he laments…

Americans seem to be in more of a hurry than ever before, pressured by hectic work schedules and overloaded by other commitments and digital information…

How can one learn to love our parks, to fully absorb the vast beauty and profound experiences they offer, with an eye constantly on the clock? And what does this drastic drop in the amount of time Americans are spending in our parks mean for the future of our wild species?

…It is sad to think that today children can recognize hundreds of corporate logos but fewer than a dozen local plants and animals.

…Sociologist Juliet Schor has documented how Americans now work longer hours than they did in the late 1960s… It wouldn’t be far from the truth to say that for most of us, our days are spent with the demands of work carrying over into our leisure time as well. It’s hard today for Americans to set aside their cell phones and other devices and spend time in nature. We are addicted to constant stimulus of the virtual kind. It often takes several days for city dwellers to slow down and leave their technologies and anxieties behind.

“We need idleness,” says Johnson, “for contemplation, for soul searching, for truly seeing what’s around us. It’s the beginning of art. It’s the beginning of romance. It’s the beginning of becoming human. We can’t lose that!”

-- John de  Graaf, “Finding Time for Our Parks,” Earth Island Journal, Summer 2016.

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For many of us there simply aren’t enough hours in the day, week, or month to accomplish everything we need to. Leisure activities are sometimes pushed aside.

Some of you periodically tell me you’d like to hike more often but simply can’t find the time. Work, family issues, and competing interests are often the reasons.

My impression is that in recent years more and more of us are living with “seriously” overloaded schedules. And stress levels seem to be higher than ever.

How often do you actually connect directly with the natural world? Photos, videos, and films can be wonderful, but they’re clearly no replacement for experiencing nature (and all the other important things in life) “in the raw,” first hand.

On our hikes it’s common to hear comments about how beautiful everything is, and how relaxing and therapeutic it feels to be unwinding “in the wild.”

Some of you do succeed in getting out as often as every week or two. A minority of you have abundant free time and no trouble fitting in outdoor activities.

Others of you are super-busy, but may have decided that getting away frequently is essential to your well-being. So you’ve chosen to give it especially high priority.

That can take plenty of willpower, especially when other people or projects are constantly competing for your time and attention. Sometimes we have no choice but to attend to work and other responsibilities. Other times we DO have a choice.

A few of our members have hiked with us virtually every week -- or 2-3 weekends per month -- for a number of years. Does that sound like an impossibility for you?

It’s always worth remembering: that life is short, work is far from being all that matters, and nature is a vital part of who and what we are. Which may be one reason why many of us find communing with the natural world to be so fulfilling.

​-- Charlie Cook

“Up there, alone with the wind and the sky and the steep grassy slopes, I nearly always find after a while that I am beginning to think more clearly. Yet “think” does not seem to be quite the right word. Sometimes, when it is a matter of making a choice, I do not believe I decide what to do so much as discover what I have decided. It is as if my mind, set free by space and solitude and oiled by the body’s easy rhythm, swings open and releases thoughts it has already formulated.”

               *      *      *      *      *

“I am not at all clear when it happened, except that it must have been more than ten years ago. I do not even remember for sure whether it happened in Africa or in North America. But the salient contours stand out boldly. I had come to some natural boundary. It may have been the end of a trail or road, or the fringes of a forest or the rim of a cliff, I no longer know which. But I do know that I felt I had gone as far as a man could go. So I just stood there looking out beyond the edge of the world. Except for a wall of thick, dark undergrowth, I am no longer sure what I saw, but I know it was wild, wild, impossible country. It still looms huge and black and mysterious in the vaults of my memory.

All at once, quite without warning, two men emerged from that impossible country. They carried packs on their backs, and they were weatherbeaten and distilled to bone and muscle. But what I remember best of all is that they were happy and whole. Whole and secure and content.

I talked to them, quite briefly and in considerable awe. They had been back deep in the wilderness, they said, away from civilization for a week. ‘Pretty inaccessible, some of it,’ admitted one of them. ‘But there’s a lot of beautiful country in there --some of the finest I’ve ever seen.’ And then they walked away and I was left, still awestruck, looking out once more into the huge, black, mysterious wilderness.

The awe that I felt that day still hangs in my memory. But my present self dismisses it. I know better. For many times in recent years I have emerged from wild country, happy and whole and secure and content, and have found myself face to face with astonished people who had obviously felt that they were already at the edge of the world. And I know, now I have come to consider the matter, that what I have seen on their faces is exactly what those two men must have seen on mine, many years ago.”
 
-- Colin Fletcher, The Complete Walker (Alfred A. Knopf, 1968)

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Everybody knows that we can’t live for long without water. And that it’s vital to take in adequate amounts of water each day for our bodies to function properly.

Just how much do we need? That obviously varies from one person to another, but most of us need more water in warm weather, especially when exercising outdoors.

The consequences of getting dehydrated shouldn’t be taken lightly. Common symptoms include weakness, dizziness, nausea, and simply not feeling well.

Summer headaches are often due to inadequate water intake. If you get a headache while hiking or at home or work, drink lots of extra water and see if it goes away.

As you may know, thirst doesn’t always sufficiently inform us of when and how often to drink. By the time we feel thirsty we may already be semi-dehydrated.

When in doubt, drink regularly throughout the day, both at home and on the trail. Ignore occasional warnings in the media about the dangers of drinking too much.

Such warnings mainly apply to people engaged in strenuous activities who have chosen to chug down large amounts of water in a short time. Not smart!

While hiking it’s sensible to sip regularly, and only try to drink significant amounts of water after resting. A rested body should process and retain the water best.

Also, it’s wise to drink plenty of water during the day and evening BEFORE a hike, plus early that morning, so you’re not starting a hike with a water deficit.

It’s important as well to take in ample salt and electrolytes on warm or hot days when we’re exercising, sweating, and drinking lots of water. Don’t avoid salty foods at this time of year. For electrolytes consider bringing juice or a sports drink.

How much water should we bring on a summer hike? A minimum of a liter on easy hikes, and at least 2-3 liters on moderate and moderate-strenuous hikes.

These days many of you have hydration systems in your packs which allow you to drink from a tube. Others of us continue to carry hard plastic water bottles, which will also do the job perfectly well.

Fill them up before leaving home, so you don’t forget, and in case the place where we make a bathroom stop on our way to a hike doesn’t have potable water.

As many of you know, you can have refreshingly cold water to drink on a hike by putting a water bottle in the freezer the evening before. To avoid the risk of a bottle bursting (since water expands when it freezes), always allow air space at the top.

Some of us favor spring water, which is invariably delicious. Whatever you bring, prepare to enjoy one of life’s simplest, most vital, most delectable pleasures…

-- Charlie Cook

“What wonders lie in every mountain day! ...Crystals of snow, plash of small raindrops, hum of small insects, booming beetles, the jolly rattle of grasshoppers, chirping crickets, the screaming of hawks, jays, and Clark crows, the ‘coo-r-r-r’ of cranes, the honking of geese, partridges drumming, trumpeting swans, frogs croaking, the whirring rattle of snakes, the awful enthusiasm of booming falls, the roar of cataracts, the crash and roll of thunder, earthquake shocks, the whisper of rills soothing to slumber, the piping of marmots, the bark of squirrels, the laugh of a wolf, the snorting of deer, the explosive roaring of bears, the squeak of mice, the cry of the loon – loneliest, wildest of sounds.

Nothing is more wonderful than to find smooth harmony in this lofty cragged region where at first sight all seems so rough. From any of the high standpoints a thousand peaks, pinnacles, spires are seen thrust into the sky and so sheer and bare as to be inaccessible to wild sheep, accessible only to the eagle. Any one by itself harsh, rugged, crumbling, yet in connection with others seems like a line of writing along the sky; it melts into melody one leading into another, keeping rhythm in time.”

The cleanness of the ground suggests Nature taking pains like a housewife, the rock pavements seem as if carefully swept and dusted and polished every day. No wonder one feels a magic exhilaration when these pavements are touched, when the manifold currents of life that flow through the pores of the rock are considered, that keep every crystal particle in rhythmic motion dancing.”

-- John Muir, 1870s writings, from Mountaineering Essays, (Gibbs M. Smith, Inc., 1984)

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Summer is obviously a season when heat waves are likely. While there are years when it rarely gets hot, other summers we get hit with higher temps pretty often.

So it’s understandable that some people have questions about hiking in the heat. Does it even make sense? Aren’t there days when it’s simply too hot for hiking?

Yes, it can get quite hot on city and suburban streets. And a big bout of heat and humidity can make urban walking and other exercise pretty uncomfortable.

That’s one of the reasons, as many of you know, why the majority of our summer hikes take place in higher mountain ranges like the Catskills and Shawangunks.

In the Shawangunks we’re at elevations of 1,500 to 2,000 feet, and in the Catskills from 2,000 to 4,000 feet, where temps can be 15-20 degrees cooler than at home.

Which means that during a major heat wave, when temps get up into mid-90s (F) at home, it’s often in the mid-70s where we’re hiking -- in other words, delightful.

Likewise for the Adirondack Mountains of upstate New York, which we’ll be traveling to for our July 4th weekend wilderness camping trip (7/1-4) and other overnight trips. There we’re typically camping at elevations of 2,000-2,500 feet.

And then there’s the natural air conditioning of mountain forests, where we’re often hiking in deep shade, and strong breezes or winds are sometimes blowing.

Plus all of our summer hikes involve visits to lakes or waterways, which we sometimes follow for a distance. These are cooler places by definition.

As I mentioned last week, on a warm day there’s always an option to cool off by wading in or swimming. Or splashing water on our faces. Or wetting our clothing.

So… as long as you avoid potentially hot, low-elevation areas -- which is exactly what we do this season -- summer hiking can be an ultra-refreshing activity.

-- Charlie Cook

​“We enjoyed peaceful minutes of drifting, too, with the bottom brown mud, just a few round white rocks dotted about, and the banks grassy, cedars leaning over the water, and white-collared birds darting close to our heads. Then for three hundred yards the river would turn feisty, roaring, tergiversating, as busy as rush hour, each rock having its say. We twisted through new rips and rapids, eluding sweepers, seeing the trout jump, and dragonflies in a mating clinch; jays called in the trees. The clouds were lovely, if we took time to glance upward. There were still-water sloughs, and gulls on the mud-banks, and parakeet cries from the bear-jungle. Then a swift chute, dark choppy water, on into a wide, luxurious pool. Buzzing birds in the woods, occasional pines, more shaggy cedar, big pairs of spruce, a heron flying high with folded neck, a gangly flying loon, some green grassy islands. A winter wren sang. Then again the water crawled with ripples, with stream birds flying up, the water slanting alive with bubbles over a gravel bar.

It became a still, rainy day with some occasional neighborly thunder. We ran by a few gentle rapids and shoals, seeing huge waterlogged stumps that were shaped like moose. The river here was a dream -- rustling, windy, wild-looking and lush -- chipper with birds, overhung with sweepers, dense with low channels forking between the islands. It was beautiful and remote.”

-- Edward Hoagland, Walking the Dead Diamond River (Warner Books, 1974).

             *      *      *      *      *

Memorial Day weekend is popularly considered to mark the start of summer and, of course, the swimming season, when millions of people head for the beaches.

Whether you’re a “beach person” or not -- some people are, others of us are not -- there’s another kind of swimming available, namely in scenic mountain lakes.

And as many of you know, taking dips in lakes or rivers is one of the special pleasures of summer hiking. It’s what we’ll be doing often from now till September.

Our first “official” swimming hike typically takes place the 2nd weekend of June, which is when we’ll once again be visiting Sutherland Pond in Black Rock Forest.

That’s our 6/11 moderate hike in privately-owned Black Rock Forest. Sutherland is a lovely mountain lake that provides a perfect place for an afternoon swim break.

From then on, all of our summer hikes feature visits to beautiful lakes, ponds, rivers, or streams, where swimming or wading is always a refreshing option.

Anyone who wishes is welcome to skip the “water recreation” part of any hike and simply enjoy a relaxing lunchtime or afternoon rest break by the water.

But others of you know that on a warm summer day, few things hit the spot more than a dip in a cool mountain lake, river, or stream. It can be just plain exhilarating.

Most of us don’t actually do much real “swimming,” or cover any distance, but simply immerse our bodies in the clear, clean, ultra-refreshing mountain water.

There’s no need to decide in advance whether you’ll wade or swim. But if you think you may want to, start bringing a swimsuit along on upcoming hikes.

​-- Charlie Cook